Sermons Based on the Lectionary of the Syrian Orthodox Church

Christians: Use Your Time to Seek Greatness!

Jesus once said: Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
and whoever wants to be first must be your slave. Amen.

Dear fellow Christians—eager to use your time for Christ and for others:

Well, we are right in the thick of the political season—aren’t we? We are less
than four weeks away from a hotly contested presidential election, not to
mention all the House and Senate races, all the gubernatorial races, and all the
other state and local elections soon to take place.

I’m not going to comment on any of those today—well, except to say that I hope
very many of you take your Christian perspective with you into the voting booth.
But I do want to use politics as a springboard into God’s Word to us today.

My question is this: What makes a person – Democrat or Republican, it doesn’t
matter – What makes a person want to run for office? That’s an interesting
question, isn’t it? And I’m sure it has a variety of answers. I imagine many
office seekers really want to be of help to their constituents. I imagine others
feel that they are the best and the brightest and that people like them need to
take the reigns of power. And then, we can’t deny that others have less noble
interests: it may be a way for them to gain wealth for themselves, or to gain
fame for themselves. Or they may even just have a desire to lord it over others.

So, is it that way in church? That’s a good question, too, isn’t it? Those who
serve in church—What’s their attitude? What should their attitude be? And should
all of us desire to join them?

Theme: Christians: Use Your Time to Seek Greatness!

Well, today we begin a three-week look at stewardship: the use of our time,
talents, and treasures for Jesus and for others. And today we’re going to
consider some of what Jesus says regarding the use of our time. It might
surprise you that he directs us: USE YOUR TIME TO SEEK GREATNESS! It won’t
surprise you, though, that this means:

God’s Word for the sermon today is our Gospel Reading: Luke chapter twenty-two,
verses twenty-four through thirty. It’s Maundy Thursday evening, and the scene
is the Upper Room in Jerusalem. Jesus is gathered with his apostles. And we
read: Also a dispute – literally: an eagerness to quarrel – arose among them –
the apostles – as to which of them was considered to be greatest. In fact, maybe
that’s how they kept things civil. They didn’t argue who was the greatest, but
who was considered to be the greatest. Still, the argument was over rank or
importance.

Jesus was not pleased. Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles – the
nearest one of them would have been Herod – they lord it over them; and those
who
exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors—literally: do-gooders,
as if the magnificence of these personages was established by sharing their
great talent with those less fortunate.

But you are not to be like that, Jesus comments—because when you are, it’s all
about me: my wisdom, my generosity, my intelligence, my goodness. And what’s not
selflessly done for Christ is selfish. And what’s selfish is sinful.

That’s certainly true of our lives, too, isn’t it?

How do you use your time? Is it to take it easy, as much as possible, or is it
to serve others and to serve God? Do you use your time to make a comfortable
living, as much as possible, or is it to serve God and to serve others? Is all
your time – beyond, let’s say, the requisite forty hours a week for work – is
all your time for you, or is it for God? And what would God, who gave us all our
time, think of that?

And then, even when we are doing good for God and for others, why are we doing
it? Is it to make us feel good? Is it for our benefit or bank account or name
recognition? And again: What would the timeless God think of that?

I don’t know about you – well, yeah, I guess I actually do – but I know the
answers to those questions for me. And they lead me to cringe and to say, ―God
have mercy on me, a sinner!

Part Two: Eagerly Work at Serving Others

There is a better route, though. It’s one that Jesus makes clear in the next
words he speaks. He says: Instead, the greatest among you should be like the
youngest—the least senior, the one who gets all the tasks the others don’t want,
and cheerfully does them. And the one who rules should be like the one who
serves. And notice how well that’s worded. The one who leads still needs to
lead. It’s his responsibility. God has given it to him. But he’s going to lead
with a servant attitude—like the one who serves.

And that gives us something to shoot for, doesn’t it?
Jesus wants us pursuing
greatness: his kind of greatness—not a high rank, but rather a greatness of
service toward him and toward others. It’s Jesus himself who puts people in
positions of leadership—not to lord it over anyone, but rather properly to use
their authority in order to serve.

So, do use your time to pursue greatness: Jesus’ kind of greatness. Children,
pursue greatness: by being alert to the needs in your family and offering to
help your parents with them. Students, pursue greatness: by trying to contribute
to the learning environment of your classroom. Young people, pursue greatness:
by looking for an occupation less to make a comfortable living and more for the
service to people and to God which you can render. Workers, pursue greatness: by
contributing to the legitimate goals of your company. Husbands and wives, pursue
greatness: by helping your spouse to be the best Christian person they can
possibly be. Parents, pursue greatness: by never tiring of instructing your
children in Christ, in what’s right and what’s wrong, and never tiring of loving
them. Retirees, pursue greatness: if you’re healthy enough, take your time to
contribute to the lives of your grandchildren or great-grandchildren, or to
become an indispensable volunteer in some worthwhile endeavor.

But whoa!—that’s going to take some energy! and some selflessness! and
especially, when somebody accuses you of selfishness or pride or a desire to
lord it over them! Where are you going to find the energy to endure in your
efforts to keep serving others?

Listen to Jesus! He says: For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the
one who serves the other who is reclining at the table? Is it not the one who is
reclining
at the table who is the greater one? Of course! But get this—Jesus says: I am
among you as one who serves.

And there it is – did you catch it? – all the reason you need to keep on serving
others and serving Christ! Jesus … has served you so well.

Jesus had just served his disciples. The verses immediately before this have him
serving them Holy Communion for the very first time. He still does that for you!
Jesus – Lord of the universe, living and ruling as the enabling force for all of
creation – that Jesus loves you and takes his time to serve you a banquet of
salvation in Lord’s Supper. When you take your time to receive it, you receive
his very body and blood which live to plead for you before God’s throne in
heaven above.

And Jesus would also serve his disciples afterwards. The chapters immediately
after this have Jesus marching steadfastly forward: to pray, to be betrayed, to
be misjudged, to suffer hell, and to die—for all our greed and pride and
self-importance and selfishness, for all our sinfulness.

For him—for him, you are willing to serve others forever.

Part Three: Eagerly Participate in Christ’s Kingdom

But Jesus gives us just a little more ammunition against our Old Adam. In case
our old sinful nature wears on us, saying, ―It’s useless, all your work; you’re
no more than a slave, and an unappreciated one at that, and it’s never going to
end‖—well, listen to what Jesus says to his apostles! You are those who have
stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father
conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and
sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Jesus promised to all the
apostles hard labor an eternal reward of grace.

In the same way, if you’re a student, your time of rest will come: no, not when
you get out of school, but when you get to learn of Jesus in his own presence in
glory. If you’re a worker, your time of rest will come: no, not when you retire,
but when you enter into celestial rest forever. If you’re a family member, your
time of rest will come; no, not when the kids leave the home, but when you enter
into your heavenly home. And if you’re a retiree, your time of rest is coming
soon, when Jesus comes for you.

And when we get to glory, none of us will ever regret all the effort we put in
here, to serve others and to serve our Lord.

Conclusion: The Church Is Not Like Most Politics!

So, why does a person enter into politics? Well, don’t ask me!—although I admire
capable Christians who do get into politics, and particularly for the purpose of
protecting our freedom to proclaim the gospel.

But why does a Christian serve the Savior? Or even more pointedly: Why do our
greeters greet and our ushers usher and our choirs sing and our school’s helpers
volunteer and our ladies serve and our board and council members lead? Well,
that I know…. Christ Jesus spent time for them on the cross. They want that
message proclaimed for others. Christ Jesus rose to give them an eternity of
time with him in heaven. They want that message proclaimed for others.

As God gives you strength, join them in their labors! Amen.

Jesus once said: The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to
give his life as a ransom for many. Amen.